Sunday Ride With The Wheelmen

 

The number of riders who showed up for this 16/25/50 Narragansett Bay Wheelmen ride looked to be around the hundred mark.  The first group of 19+ MPH average speed riders was the largest, followed by the 15+mph.  The rest of us filled in at the back of the pack.

My riding companion for the day.  We got very lost.

I decided to stay with a woman who was on her first NBW ride and opted to take her on the 26 mile option.  While we were yakking away, we missed an arrowed turn in Dighton.  We only had to backtrack a mile to find the red arrows for this ride.  As we were following I couldn't shake the feeling that something was amiss.   Why didn't the faster riders doing the 50 miler start to overtake us.  The feeling intensified as were were riding through Somerset, MA.   I kept thinking that we shouldn't be in Somerset but in Swansea.   We decided to trust the red arrows and carry on.  I knew the area somewhat and my sense of direction (which is pretty good),  confirmed that we were heading toward Swansea.   Up, up, up some hills till we finally saw some of the hammerheads who rode their bikes to the start point returning home.  Then we saw more, and more and I'm thinking, gee, a lot of people rode their bike to the lot.  Finally I asked one guy "is this the way to the bike shop".   He pointed emphatically that I needed to turn around. 

My riding partners twice pulled out her phone and was going to call family to come and pick her up.  I convinced her that we were close and only had to back track a couple of miles to get to the finish line.  That's when I saw the ORANGE arrows.   We had been following red and somehow stumbled our way back to the arrowed route.  We finished our 26 mile ride in just over 34 miles.   Not to bad for being off course by a whole city.   It all worked out as it always does on a bike.  I did have to convince our first time rider that getting lost should not be traumatic, it's an adventure.

We came across this giant Tulip Tree and are saddened to see a piece of US history lost. 

Read about this tree planted by a signer of the Declarations of Independence HERE

I shouldn't have been able to take this photo if it wasn't  for the fact that that we were so far off course.

Bike Day in Fairhaven

A chilly start but things worked out fine for the Fairhaven Bike Committee's ride.  Around 75 people showed for the event and were met at the finish with some free schwag.  Bike bells, Velcro ankle straps, water, nutrition bars and a t-shirt.  Not a bad bounty just for riding your bike.  Pumpkin Head Ted provided some cool jazz entertaining the masses.

Lots of families and a few spandex clad roadies took the plunge of a 7 or 25 mile ride.  I opted out of this ride for the 50 mile Narragansett Bay Wheelmen ride tomorrow.  No schwag but lots of miles.

Ride To Work Day In New Bedford.

I don't work but had lots to do.   The day started with a bike ride to the fitness center.  After a good shoulders workout I headed over the river into New Bedford to have coffee at Center Cafe on Brock Ave.  To my surprise a friend who lives in Seattle was visiting with his daughter and was also at the cafe.  It ended up as a nice reunion for us.  Back to Fairhaven for lunch with Dave before returning to New Bedford for a dentist appointment.   The total bike was just under 30 miles.  Not a bad bike to work day for a retiree.  Not bad at all.

Harpo and his daughter. Both from Seattle.  

My home now has the no vacancy sign on display since we opened up to guests.  Fabio from Milan is staying with his friend Kate from Pittsburgh while they are getting their newly purchased sail boat ready.  Also our friend Gunna   (goon'ah) from Norway is with us for a few days.  Norwegian cheese and chocolates have been topping off our dinners of great Italian pizza and avocado and cheese sandwiches on fresh bread.  Washed down with good wine of course.

Fabio from Milan working on his new boat

Sue and Gunna checking out the new boat with Kate. 

Lots of different sights on the ride today and of course there are always good photos of the activity around the New Bedford/Fairhaven bridge.


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 Me and the bike stopped for lunch at Hungry Heroes.

Mattapoisett Village

\The Village sits on the south coast of Massachusetts.   It's a coastal community where one, if so inclined, can board a small power boat and travel across the bay to Falmouth for breakfast or lunch.   Martha's Vineyard can be seen from the harbor and beaches and Boston is a stressful one hour drive north.

Mattapoisett is a quiet little town of  6,000 and was settled in 1750.  There are some old places to see in this quiet bike friendly hamlet.   The sun was shining this afternoon and all my chores around the house were done by noon.   A nice time for a short bike ride.

Part of the ride is on the Phoenix Bike trail in Fairhaven but most of it was through the side streets of Mattapoisett.  Large waterfront and water view homes make this ride a little different from the rural rides we usually take.

Bike trail in Fairhaven

Friday Evening Ride

It was the best day of the season to date.  High 70's, no wind and sunny skies. The ride began around 5:30 just as the temps were dropping.  It was still nice, but it was also long sleeve weather.  The route of choice was the back roads of Fairhaven, Acushnet, Rochester and Mattapoisett.  Twenty miles of low traffic flat riding.


Spring has arrived and is showing off her colors.  The grass is green, the flowers are in bloom and the trees are budding.  Not only does spring require twice weekly grass cutting, but also gutter cleaning.  Those buds we have been waiting for weeks to sprout bring a cloud to fill the silver lining.  Not a big deal, just saying.

A great weekend riding the five boroughs of New York City has awakened the desire for another road trip.  This one will be in Maine sometime in June.  It will be in the Portland, Freeport area where I rode over the Thanksgiving weekend titled Friday Afternoon Ride in the State of Maine.  Three of us will make the trek and surely will turn it into another great biking weekend.

Riding the Five Boroughs and Five Bridges of NYC 2013

As always, click any photo for big.  Click again for Bigger. 

Click here to see all the photos on Flickr

Three of us drove to NYC over the weekend to ride the Five Boroughs event.  Riding on closed roads  at 15MPH is a wonderful way to see New York.  There is plenty of support along the route including officials and police at all cross streets, rest areas to get snacks, water and relief and plenty of encouragement from the many along the route.

 We spent Saturday hanging around the Lower East side of Manhattan in the Bowery district.   We had lunch at a really good Napal place called The Himalayan Cafe which all three of us highly recommend.  After lunch we walked over to  Basketball City to pick up our event packages and register for the ride.

One of the must things to do for us when visiting New York is to walk over one of the bridges.  We tossed around the Manhattan and Williamsburg before settling on the old standby, the Brooklyn Bridge.  Because of the construction, most of the view were blocked which took away most of the reasons for walking over this one.   It is a hoot however just to say you walked over the Brooklyn Bridge.

 David, amidnightrider and Brandon in Brooklyn with the Brooklyn Bridge and Manhattan in the background.

Sunday we began our day by taking the 6:30 AM ferry from Staten Island to Manhattan.  We were in the first group of 11,000 in this years staggered start and were off and riding by 7:45.  This way my 6th Five Boroughs ride and have to say that this one by far was the best, most organized and trouble free ride.  The weather was a comfortable 60-65 F and the sun was shining.  We had no problems with the hills, the bridges or the crowds this time.

There were some quirky people on this ride, and with 32,000 participants it's only right that there be a few characters.

The first group of 11,000 riders. There were two more groups of this size behind us for the staggered start. 

Riding in heels. 

This one was very annoying. 

There were also families with children and on tandems

In previous rides, before the staggered start times, it was a free for all for starting locations.   If you were to get stuck near the back of the pack in the family section or novice section you were pretty much screwed.  It was very slow going with lots of walking up hills and over bridges.  The time I got stuck in that pack, I finished the ride at 4PM.   Today, with the three tier start times and locations, our group finished the ride just after noon.  That gave us time for a leisurely lunch at a pizza shop that came highly recommended by two Staten Island policemen,  Pier 76 Pizzeria. You have heard about New York style pizza, I'm sure.  This is one of the better ones.

This event is always on the first Sunday of May.  They limit the participants to 32,000 and they sell out very quickly. 

Riding the Five Boroughs of NYC.

Three of us will be traveling to NYC this weekend to ride the Five Boroughs event on Sunday.  We will begin on 6th Avenue in Manhattan, through Central Park, Queens, the Bronx, Brooklyn and finally cross the Verranzano  Bridge into Staten Island.   Naturally we will stop in Brooklyn for a slice or two of pizza. That's a no-brainer.

Close up of the Verranzano Bridge.

Waiting to start

We will spend Saturday being tourist and plan to do that on in lower Manhattan in the Bowery district.  We are also going to walk across the Brooklyn Bridge before checking in for our ride packets at Basketball City at Pier 36 in Manhattan

Trying to settle on a place for lunch can be daunting.  There are so many great restaurants that is difficult to pick.   Dinner will be on 2nd Ave and 52nd St.  There are lots of great places there and we will choose on the spur of the moment.  All will definitely be reported here upon our return.